Issue 8: Security Check
by Fallen X-Angels
Summary: When the Fallen Angels get a surprise visitor, it's time to check out the systems. But security comes in different forms.


Fallen Angels

V1, Issue 8

"Security Check"

By Beaubier and Sue Penkivech

* * *

Jono slumped in his chair at the breakfast table, watching the pandemonium taking place around him. All the Angels had turned out this morning, which was almost unprecedented. Well, nearly all – Kurt was conspicuously absent, but he'd thought he heard the shower running when he made his way downstairs, so he'd probably be here in no time, too.

Not that the kitchen wasn't noisy as hell without him. It almost made Jono long for the good old basement at the Massachusetts Academy, where he'd hidden through most of the meals served there. Wasn't as if there'd been any point in going to meals, considering he wasn't eating them anyway. Now, he wondered what he might have missed, brooding. If breakfast at the Academy had been anything like this, it might have been damn amusing.

He probably wouldn't have appreciated it anyway. Wasn't entirely sure he appreciated it fully now. But it was kind of like a train wreck. He couldn't pull his eyes away.

"No, seriously, you should have seen it!" Jubilee babbled at his left to no one in particular. "Dude, it was great! I mean, this stupid cat is just sitting there, looking all pitiful, and they're going "Awwww,' and then WHAM!" Jono ducked as her arm gestures got a bit out of control, "the cat's all over them! Took 'em all out. Yeah, definitely better than the first one, don't you think, Bobster?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," Bobby agreed as he snitched another piece of bacon off of her plate and popped it into his own mouth. He'd been out of the hospital about a week now – not that Jono'd seen him all that often. Mostly, he seemed to be hanging out in his room, or watching the telly with Jubes. Still not quite right, he gathered, though it sounded as if he and Jubilee must've gone to see some movie the day before. "Cyt ct," he said as he chewed, then swallowed and added, "Good movie. Hey, J-P, any more bacon?"

"If you can keep this flying rat away from me, you might get some," Jean-Paul replied from behind him at the stove, and Jono had to chuckle at the irritation in his voice. Apparently the thing was kinda protective of his owner, and had taken an instant dislike to Beaubier since they'd more or less moved in. Under the circumstances, Jono had to admit he really didn't blame it. Kitty and Jean-Paul, as far as he knew, hadn't spoken since that last... heated debacle in the living room.

"Oh, come on, Lockheed, leave him alone," Kitty urged half-heartedly from her seat one away from Bobby, tearing into her own bowl of cereal. "C'mere, dragon."

"Pfui!" the dragon said, and came over to settle on Bobby's shoulder instead, who obligingly fed it another piece of Jubilee's bacon.

"Hey you little thief, feed 'heed your own bacon!" Jubilee objected, catching his motion out of the corner of her eye.

"I don't have any," Drake protested. "And it wasn't me, it was the dragon!"

"Can y'all just shut up?" Paige complained from her seat next to Kitty. She was absently picking at her own breakfast while she read something… er, technical looking. Patently ignoring Jono, of course, but then, he'd grown pretty much used to that recently. She was usually busy, either getting things prepped for her infiltration or going out with the doc. Or at least, she sure pretended to be whenever he was around. Sighing internally, he picked up his own spoon, and was about to shovel some Sugar Bombs into his mouth – yeah, now _he_ was hooked on the damn things, too, Angelo would've been proud – when his leg felt a sharp kick under the table. Looking up, he saw Kitty trying to catch his eye, grinning as she gestured behind him with her chin.

He turned to look, and sure enough, the dragon was at it again, swooping around the Canuck's head and making aborted dives toward the frying pan. And Jean-Paul was…well, twitching. As if he wasn't going to give the thing, or its mistress, the satisfaction of seeing him actually move, but was really, really wanting too. Jono glanced back at Kitty, resisting the urge to burst out with a laugh, and grinned. He might refuse to take sides in the great Pryde/Beaubier battle, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate the hell out of the dragon's antics.

Kurt stumbled into the kitchen, his hair and fur still wet-looking, unfettered by any such civilized thing as clothing except for a towel wrapped around his waist. And grinned sheepishly, even as he said, "I think we have a problem. I emerged from the shower and returned to my room to find this waiting for me on my pillow." He handed the note to Kitty, who raised her eyebrows, then began reading aloud…

"Sorry about the quick exit, hope you're enjoying the sword. I really did enjoy those moves of yours, though. Maybe you can show me how it's done, some time. Just dropped by to say hello, but since I missed you, thought I'd leave a little present. Nice security systems by the way. Hope you didn't pay too much. I'll be in touch, Isabel"

Jono leaned back and chuckled internally as he listened to the reactions. His train wreck analogy was turning out to be pretty damn appropriate.

"Nice security system, Katherine, I thought you were the technical expert."

"Now listen, you self-righteous –

"Katzchen!"

"But…I tested that!"

"…arrogant pig, I –"

"Katzchen, I don't think NOW is the time…"

"Fuzzy's got a girlfriend!"

"Jubilation, if you can refrain from acting so utterly juvenile, I think we need to discuss…"

"Kurt, you are SO gonna score!"

All eyes turned to glare at Bobby at this point, who was grinning broadly. "What? What'd I say?"

Kurt cleared his throat, shaking his head and rolling his eyes skyward. "In view of this…well, incident, we'll be doing a test of the security system later today. I suggest we pair off into teams. Bobby, obviously, you -"

"No, I'm in," Bobby said, putting his arms behind his head and leaning back in his chair, a cocky grin on his face. "I'm sick of sitting around."

"Bobby, I really don't think…" Kitty began softly, but was interrupted by Jean-Paul.

"That's ridiculous, there's no way you're ready," The arrogant speedster announced, gaining him a dirty look from Bobby and a more calculating one from Kitty. Honestly, Jono thought he could almost _see_ her blood pressure rise.

"If he says he is, he should know," she argued, facing off against Jean-Paul, her dragon hissing angrily from her shoulder.

"And you're such an excellent judge of that, aren't you?" Jean-Paul spat. "If it weren't for you…"

"Knock it off!" Bobby shouted, and Jono watched the two of them turn toward him in shocked silence. "I'm in. Believe it or not, I _am_ still capable of deciding that for myself."

Jono turned to Kurt, who just nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Kitty, you're with me, Bobby –"

"Actually, Kurt, if you want a real test, I'll need to monitor the systems. Why don't you partner with Paige?" Jono saw Paige throw Kitty a grateful look and rolled his eyes. Yeah, Sunshine was after the top slot, that was obvious. Not that he'd expected anything else; she'd never lacked in the self-esteem department, not on the first day they'd met, and never since as far as he could tell. Must be nice. Between her and Beaubier, it was a wonder all of Chicago wasn't revolving around Fallen Angels headquarters.

"You're with me, Jono!" Jubilee exclaimed. "Let's show them what GenXers are made of!"

"Yer on, gel," he replied, smiling over at his former GenX teammate. He hadn't spent as much time with Jubilee as he felt he should since he'd joined the Angels.

"I suppose that leaves you with me, Drake," Jean-Paul said, and Jono winced at the ice in his voice. No, Beaubier definitely wasn't thrilled about losing out on that one. Kitty didn't look exceptionally happy, either. And the dragon was taking advantage of the distraction to eat the bacon straight out of the package, uncooked.

"Well, then, as soon as I've finished drying off and dress," Kurt said, glancing down at his towel-wrapped waist, "we'll get started." Taking the rose and the note with him, and still bearing traces of a bemused grin on his face, the Fallen Angels' leader left the room.

"So, Jono," Jubilee asked, coming up to him, "what's the strategy?"

"Let me think on that, 'Lee," he replied, glancing towards Kitty who had a focused look on her face.

* * *

Paige was trying to be serious. She really, truly was. She'd been trying very hard all morning, in fact.

But her seriousness kept getting distracted lately. And while it was annoying... Kurt was far too amusing right now for her to avoid _at least _smiling at the residual stupid look on his face. Jubilee _had _said something about Kurt still having some kind of weird... affection for the terrorist-woman they'd met in the courthouse. She'd said that to Jono, and even Jean-Paul had noticed...

Not that she'd spoken to Jono in awhile. She _had _spoken to Jean-Paul-- after all, she needed to keep up with the man, since he was the business end of things and needed her help sometimes. But Jono... not so much.

Kurt was still smiling as he explained "the plan." A "plan" which involved 'porting inside, and making their way through the transformed interior of the house and defeating each of the security systems in a row. Not that Shade had done it that way-- that would've been impossible, considering that they were all in the house at the time and the caliber of transformation the security systems caused to the living room alone were impossible not to notice... but while they were testing things, might as well test them _all._

He couldn't seem to _stop_ smiling, in fact. Paige actually shook her head at him, at one point, trying to remain serious. She felt terrible, however. Despite his grin, Nightcrawler was well on top of his game. He had a plan of attack, he had contingency plans and he was ready for this little "mission." She, on the other hand… this was _not _her, and she was starting to get rather annoyed with herself. She knew he wouldn't mind her grinning… but spacing out was beyond unacceptable in a briefing or, god forbid, in a mission.

All things considered, sudden smiling fits made no sense anyhow. Since they'd arrived in Chicago, Paige couldn't remember smiling all that much. Nor could she remember Kurt's grin being so unstoppable. Maybe at another time they could pause to appreciate and/or decodify… but now was so not the time. They had very serious work ahead of them for the day, and they ought to know better.

Yet it seemed like both of them were on the edge of laughing.

But no, Nightcrawler was not the problem at all. She knew that Kurt took the threat to their security system _anything _but lightly, no matter how much finding a rose on his pillow made him smile. After all, here he was, running tests. The Angels were not like the X-Men, who seemingly arbitrarily attached importance and value to random specific occurrences. The Angels were thorough in both their dedication to protecting and serving, _and _to each other, no matter what their personal difficulties may have been. Jean-Paul and Kitty would help each other, if it came down to it, she was certain, and Paige would be proud to help Kurt lead a crew like this one. A crew that was so... trustworthy...

Unlike Warren K. Worthington III.

And… there came the bitterness. Great. And she'd been doing so well _not _thinking about it.

"Paige, is there a reason you look as if you've just bitten into a lemon?" Kurt's voice suddenly questioned her, tinged with the slightest hint of amusement, as it had been all morning.

She looked at him in surprise and felt her face flush. Hell. She hadn't been paying attention at all. Damn, damn, _damn_, this just wasn't _her_. Could he tell that it was deep distraction, not just surface, like his? "Um... I'm sorry, Kurt. I... got distracted."

He arched one dark eyebrow at her, but didn't say a word against it. And kept talking, "Once we're inside, you'll have to watch out for the--,"

Now that had been odd. It was very unlike her not to pay attention to direction. In fact, that might be a first. And here she was, on Kurt's team, and she was about to blow her chance to show him just how good the two of them could be together. She let out a quick, inaudible sigh. She'd been like this all morning, even trying to read her paper. Not that reading the paper was all that easy, with Jean-Paul Beaubier standing there in his perfect-fitting khakis. It was difficult not to glance over every now and then. Not that she was interested, she knew damn well that was an exercise in futility. But it didn't hurt to look, after all. Men did it all the time. And then Kurt had come in, dripping wet with nothing but a thin towel tight around his waist, and she was lucky she'd caught what he'd been saying at all. Not that she'd never seen Kurt with a shirt off, but there was something vaguely _wonderful_ about him post-shower that was so very...

_Wrong_ of her to be thinking about. Especially while he was standing there, looking at her expectantly with glowing golden eyes.

The flush in her face deepened, and she said, "Great, let's go!"

His grin widened, and he reached out for her arms with both hands, obviously preparing to teleport them both inside. "Distracted today, are we?"

She stepped a little closer, and let him cover her arms with his, smiling up at him. "I'm sorry, Kurt, I'm just... I'll be on in there, I promise."

"I know you will, Paige," He smiled down at her. She was relieved to find that his confidence in her seemed not at all shaken. Now, if only she could regain her own in herself… "I've never known you to be off. Here we go."

It suddenly occurred to her that he _was _very charming, though decidedly not her type of charming, and then... they were gone. The smell of brimstone choked her, and her stomach flipped over dangerously as she swooned from the internal confusion his dimensional 'porting caused. He steadied her with one hand and they both looked around.

The living room was completely unrecognizable. The walls were covered in metal, the television was gone and flipped under the ground, the couch and end tables had long since disappeared-- any kind of knick-knacks or decoration were totally gone. And there was a red light glowing over the one piece of furniture left... oddly enough, the coat rack.

"Why doesn't the coat rack disappear?" She furrowed her brow at it, irritated. She was under the impression that _everything _would be taken down into the lower levels automatically when red alert was activated.

"We have bigger problems," Kurt pointed to the single steel wall that marked the usual escape route into the kitchen. No door. Not even a seam. "I could just port us in, but that's unfair, and not much of a test..."

Something clicked as Kurt spoke, and a red, glowing line suddenly shot out under their feet, both of them jumping to avoid it. "Shit, I forgot about those," she swore, surprised at her own stupidity. She could've been seriously injured by one of those lasers Kitty was so damn fond of. Honestly, she was like a little boy with her video games.

"Here come more," Kurt laughed, sounding rather joyful, as more shot out, and they had to jump to avoid them. Kurt, of course, made it look like a dance, his feet moving in some kind of slow rhythm, his tail held up and whipping around occasionally. Soon there was hardly anywhere on the floor to step that wouldn't require careful movement between the lines except for a few spots in the corners. "So, what has you distracted, Paige," He asked as he danced, and the top of the walls started to open up to let out the drones. "Couldn't be a certain Doctor from CIMR, could it?"

She rolled her eyes, finishing up her husk into a dense, metal form. She didn't think a partial husk would be particularly useful in this situation-- the drones were just going to require full on combat mode, and if she accidentally lost her footing for a moment, the metal form would provide some protection from the deadly floor they were standing on, and possibly keep her from burning her legs. "No, this has nothing to do with Zach."

But as she said it, she realized... hell. Maybe it did.

The first wave of drones was released, small, oval-shaped mechanical creatures, with a small oculus that was linked to the video mainframe. However, it was a bit like… fighting with bludgers, if one read Harry Potter.

Which Paige had only done because Jubilee had left them lying around. Honestly.

But the things were just that kind of evil—flying at their heads almost instantly, never less than two at a time. Paige bit at her lip as she jumped to avoid the first one, coming back to the floor between the red laser lines with a heavy metal thud. There was another well on the way and she felt something whiz just by her ear as she stood straight again. Damn. Kitty was _good_.

"Actually," she heard a bamf, before Kurt continued, "I think it just might!" Then another bamf, and he was standing in front of her.

"Duck," he grinned.

In concert, they ducked, and the two drones that had been chasing them slammed into each other with a fantastic crash of metal and a lovely explosion. She batted the burning remains to the floor with one steely hand and said, "thanks."

"Glad to help, _liebchen_." Bamf

He was gone, and she was choking on brimstone again. And there were two more of the drones flying at her. Kurt was systematically teleporting his little friends into various inconvenient places, apparently. Paige simply started tearing them apart, leaping between the dangerous red lines on the floor, batting the drones through walls and leaving slight dents in the floor. "It's not," jump, "about," jump, "him!" she insisted, as she worked. Grinning.

And there! The last drone, down! She whirled in triumph, and shot her partner a huge smile. "Honestly, Nightcrawler, do you think I'd--,"

But his golden eyes grew wide, suddenly, and wild enough to match his indigo hair (which was all over the place from his exertions.) "Husk! Behind you!"

She began to turn… but it was already too late. A large metal drone, far bigger than the others, was flying straight for her face.

* * *

Kitty leaned back in the chair at the computer console, laughing, much to the annoyance of a certain purple dragon, who'd been curled up in her lap and was now looking up at her with an indignant expression.

"Sorry, Dragon…you should've seen the look on her face," she explained, idly scratching between his wings while he settled back down with an "ummph". Still grinning, she shook her head and bent back to her keyboard. That coat rack _should_ have disappeared with the rest of the furniture. Perhaps some sort of mechanical malfunction? There didn't seem to be anything wrong with the code.

There didn't seem to be anything wrong with Bobby either, though. But she knew better.

Sighing, she abandoned her perusal of the living room's obstacle removal code, her fingers kneading at her temples. What the hell had possessed her to get into a snark fight with J-P in the kitchen, anyway? She should have known Bobby would just _have_ to prove he was back to 100 if anyone suggested otherwise. It would have been far better to just ask him to monitor the systems.

Of course, she reminded herself, seething, even if she'd said nothing, there was no doubt in her mind that the Oh-So-Perfect Jean-Paul Beaubier would have had plenty to say. He always did, with his favorite topic being her many deficiencies and her responsibility for Bobby's hospitalization.

The problem was, of course, that she wasn't entirely sure that the last wasn't accurate.

He'd been strangely quiet since their blow-up the week before, though…at least, until that morning. Not that the tension had lessened; if anything, it had increased. But it was just…there. Passive. Pregnant. Or it had been…until breakfast that morning.

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair, pressing the button that would switch the main screen to the outside cameras instead of the temporary ones she'd put up inside for the test. And startled, sitting bolt upright, as they focused in on Jean-Paul and Bobby.

God, what the hell was he thinking?

* * *

"Drake, what do you think you're doing?" Jean-Paul asked, and Bobby glanced over at him, grinning with a confidence he really didn't feel.

"Just what you said, J-P. We come in high, go for the upper levels," he quipped, knowing full well what the Canadian was on about and refusing to take the bait. And attempted to turn his attention back to maintaining control over the ice slide he was generating from his perfectly normal, flesh and blood hands.

Admittedly, he knew full well that his teammate had meant for him to ice up before sliding in. And…normally, that was exactly what he would have done. But his recent experiences had left him somewhat leery of changing forms, or even icing himself over as he'd done for so many years before he'd discovered the benefits of being solid ice.

The problem was that the risks seemed to far outweigh the benefits at this point. And they weren't risks he was willing to take, not to test out a security system. He didn't need to, either. He knew perfectly well what he was doing, and it just…felt good to cut loose, to be part of things again. To get out of the house and burn off some of the pent up energy. To stop thinking about…

He watched as Jean-Paul came to a stop in front of him, hovering mid-air, his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face.

"You are in no way ready for this," he accused. "You should never have allowed Pryde to manipulate you into doing this, especially if you're still unable to –"

"I'm fine," Bobby reasserted, cutting him off mid-sentence and planting his hands on his hips. "Kitty didn't coerce me into anything. Last time I checked, _I _made the decision to get involved. And what the hell is your problem with her, anyway?"

Jean-Paul sniffed, and Bobby knew he hadn't listened to a word he'd said. "Can you honestly say that you have even _attempted_ to do anything with your powers since you were released from the hospital?" he asked disdainfully, not even bothering to hide his annoyance.

"Why Jean-Paul, I never knew you cared," he joked, batting his eyelashes and attempting to lighten the mood. Realizing quickly that the snarky Canadian seemed unimpressed with the humor, he shrugged. "Well, I cooled down Paige's cookies the other day so I could eat them sooner. Does that count?"

"You're going right back inside," J-P snarled, but Bobby was looking past him.

"Incoming!" he shouted, stretching out his hand and sending a stream of ice past the hovering speedster. The flying drone heading toward them obligingly dropped to the ground with a crash, and Bobby grinned, blowing on his fist and then rubbing it on his chest.

"See? Told you, I'm just fine," he said proudly, but his teammate had turned his attention to the flurry of drones that seemed to come out of nowhere while he'd been dealing with the first.

"Heat-seekers," J-P called out, flying an intricate course that had the drones running into each other in their attempt to keep up with him. "Either ice up or get out of this, Drake."

"No, I'm fine," Bobby shouted back, firing blast after blast at the seemingly never-ending wave of mechanical monstrosities heading toward him, his aim becoming increasingly erratic as he began to tire. His vision began to swim, and he shook his head. He was fine. He had to be fine…

"Look out!" he heard, but realized it was too late as one of the drones he'd barely clipped spun out of control and into the ice slide he was standing on, taking out its tenuous support. Frantic, he tried to generate a column of ice beneath him, but he couldn't seem to focus…

"Damn it, Drake, I told you –" he heard Jean-Paul call out, and realized with absolutely certainty as he began to lose consciousness that apparently both his Canadian teammate and his former-girlfriend had been right. He wasn't ready for this….

* * *

"Bobby!" Kitty shouted uselessly from the control center, tears pouring down her face as she watched him topple off his ice slide and out of the view of the camera, her fist pounding down on the desk next to the keyboard. Damn it, she _knew_ he wasn't ready for this, _knew_ she should have stopped him…

She'd programmed heat-seekers to go after them, intentionally, when he'd insisted on participating. They _should_ have ignored him completely, _would have_, had he iced up as she'd anticipated. Should've headed straight for Jean-Paul, as the only warm body present. Instead…

Wanting more than anything to plop down into the chair, bury her head in her arms and cry, she instead forced herself to keep going, focusing in on the location of the security cameras, trying to find one she could focus in to see what had happened. But that didn't stop the tears from spilling out onto the keyboard as she typed, while Lockheed hovered behind her, making sounds meant to be reassuring.

This time, there was no doubt whatsoever. It was no one's fault but hers.

* * *

Jubilee popped her gum, kicking back on the grass as she watched Jono think.

He looked really good, she decided, admiring the new face he'd gotten courtesy of his brief tenure with Weapon X as he sat eyes closed, opening them only to jot some sort of notes on a piece of paper in front of him. She knew Paige was having some trouble getting used to it, but it seemed, well, _right_ to her. He looked like he should, how she'd always pictured him without the bandages or the glowing psionic energy billowing out. Unfortunately, he still looked depressed. But then she'd rarely known him to look any other way, so that didn't detract from her appreciation of his restored features.

"Aren't you done yet, dude?" she asked for the twenty-third time. They'd been holed up just outside the perimeter for what seemed like hours, and Jono wasn't exactly being forthcoming about his plan, whatever it was. "I mean, what're we going to do? We've both got offensive powers; what could we do except storm in, anyway?"

Jono rolled his eyes at her, and she laughed. "We're not goin' in guns blazing, Sparkler. Didn'tja learn nothing from Emma? We can do better than that. C'mon, think about it, what would Frosty do?"

"Something sneaky and underhanded while wearing leather?" she guessed, then had to choke back the laughter that gurgled up as she pictured Jono wearing one of the White Queen's skimpier ensembles. No, definitely not his style. A giggle escaped her. New face and hot bod notwithstanding, Jono just wouldn't look right in a bustier and thong. Not in this lifetime, anyway.

Laugh it up, gel, he mock-glared, I'll have yer know I look damn good in leather…though I'll admit the bustier's out. Jubilee looked up at him, surprise written on her face. Jono rarely if ever used the psi abilities Emma'd worked so hard at training him in now that he no longer needed them to communicate; his "receive" abilities were minimal at best, and more useful for picking up emotion than conscious thought. Or so she'd always thought…

I've been practicin' he said in her mind. Now, quit distractin' me, please Sparkler? I'm tryin' to tap in on Kitty to find out where the security cameras and alarms are. Kinda figure if she can't find us, there ain't much she's gonna be able to do. Luckily she focuses really hard on her work, so it's not impossible, just damn hard. How're your pafs these days? Don't answer out loud, just…think really hard. I don't want her ter pick up anything…

They're as good as they ever were, Jubilee thought _loudly_, glad she'd been acquainted with so many telepaths over the years. When Jono didn't respond immediately, she looked up at him and saw him nod, then take on glance back down at his paper.

Sorry, gel, caught another one. But I heard yer. Don't worry - that'll work. He grinned at her sarcastically, and she stuck her tongue out at him. _That'll work_ indeed.

"Why –" Sorry, she projected, as she focused in on what she was trying to say. Why is this such a big deal? I mean, we're just testing the security system cuz Fuzzy's new girlfriend snuck in and Johnny's having kittens about it, right?

Yeah, she heard Jono reply, and got a hint of a sigh across the link. It's more than that though, Sparkler. It's…after my fuck up with Weapon X, I'd really like ter get somethin' right, yer know?

Surprised by his sudden sharing of confidence, Jubilee moved closer and put her hand on her teammate's shoulder. There was more involved than just Weapon X, and she knew it. Everyone knew he still had a thing for Paige, and Jubilee was none too thrilled herself about the way her roommate was treating him. Given the history of their on again, off again relationship, she could understand Paige's reluctance to start things back up, but that didn't mean the older girl had to give him a total cold shoulder, either. Then I guess we'll just have to kick some ass and show them just what Generation X can do, huh? So, what've you got there? A map? she asked, peering at his notepad upside down. Gonna fill me in on the plan? she asked hopefully.

I'd kinda have to for it ter work, wouldn't I? Jono replied, grinning, and Jubilee smiled in response. Ok, here's the deal…

Jubilee's eyes and grin widened as Jono described what he had in mind. Oh yeah, this was gonna rock…

* * *

"Husk, MOVE!" Kurt shouted to his teammate, even as he launched himself off the wall he was clinging to and dove toward the center of the room where Paige was standing, apparently transfixed by the drone heading straight toward her. Metal form or no, if that metallic monstrosity connected it was going to leave quite a mark…or a dent, as the case may be. Perhaps he had overestimated her ability, after all…

Or underestimated it. He realized his mistake and executed a graceful flip midair, landing lightly on his feet beside her as he saw Paige rip the skin from her arm and plunge the resulting - well, he wasn't sure what it was, exactly, but a gaffed harpoon came to mind - into the drone's interior, pulling it free in a shower of sparks and a cloud of foul-smelling smoke.

"Well, that was effective," he grinned as Paige turned to look at him proudly, a similar smile brightening her face as the drone fell to the ground, it's electronic "eye" dimming and ultimately fading out completely.

"I told you!" she replied, and he nodded amiably as he pushed his sweat-soaked hair back from his forehead, his eyes scanning for further threats. There seemed to be none forthcoming, though, so he relaxed a bit, rolling his shoulders to release the pent up tension.

"Ja, you did," he admitted with feigned reluctance and a long-suffering sigh. "Let's see what you've done to yourself this time." Despite his perfectly reasonable concerns about the practice, he had to admit that her partial husking technique was quite effective. Or would be, once she mastered it fully.

Paige extended her arm, and his eyes scanned it quickly, noting that the modified appendage appeared to be composed of the same metal as the rest of her body and seamlessly joined to her arm. Impressive, really, and he let out a low whistle of approval, which was answered by a giggle from Paige. One which broke off abruptly as she pulled back her arm.

"Next round!" she announced as small air jets appeared in the ceiling and began emitting some sort of gas.

"Mein gott, she's trying to kill us," he laughed, quickly weighing their options as he watched the gas settle downwards. They could take out the nozzles, but probably not without doing more damage to the ceiling than he it was likely worth. After all, they _did_ have to live here.

Still…this morning's unexpected _visit _had him in quite a good mood, despite the implications to the security system. And Jean-Paul would be footing the bill regardless, so…snaking both an arm and tail around Paige's waist, he grinned rakishly.

"Ready for another ride?" he asked with a wink, chuckling as Paige moaned, and with a _bamf_, they disappeared, reappearing high on the wall near the ceiling.

"Take them out," he instructed, and nodded as Paige slammed her unaugmented metal hand into the closest nozzle, which stopped functioning as it folded in on itself. "Perfect!" he exclaimed, giving her waist a squeeze before moving on to the next.

"So," Paige asked slyly as she slammed her forked hand into the next target, "it seems you have quite an admirer. Leaving you roses on the pillow and all."

"Ja well, what's not to admire?" he countered with a toothy grin, bamfing them on to the next without warning and chuckling as Paige began coughing, noting that nonetheless she immediately slammed her fist into the nozzle. With a limited amount of damage to the ceiling, no less. "Apparently she's impressed with my swordsmanship," he added. He had been with hers as well, he had to admit. And even more impressed with…other attributes, though her ideology made it unlikely that he'd have much of an opportunity to explore those further.

Which did nothing to make the memory of how she'd moved any less attractive.

"Oh, is that what they're calling it these days?" she deadpanned, and he burst out laughing as they repeated the process at the remaining nozzles.

"Perhaps you should ask Zach," he suggested with a wink as they rematerialized next to the last. "Ouch! The ceiling, not me, Paige!" he protested as she whacked him lightly on the back of the head.

"I missed," she lied with a grin, plunging her fist into the last nozzle. "Where to now?" she asked, glacing down at the swirling gas below.

"The next room?" he suggested, making a mental note to talk to Kitty about adding in some sort of gas that wouldn't settle so quickly. It had worked to their advantage, but would have serious disadvantages against someone who could fly.

With flight-capable mutants in mind, he wondered how Jean-Paul and Bobby were faring as he and Paige moved on to take on the dining room.

* * *

This was all Pryde's fault, Jean-Paul thought angrily as he dove to catch his unconscious teammate, the wind ripping through his hair and drowning out the sound of the remaining drones behind him. Not only had she actively encouraged Drake into taking on this ridiculous course of action when it was painfully, blindingly obvious that he was in no condition, but she'd obviously not been monitoring her overpriced, ineffective security system adequately. Though of course one would have thought, given the amount of money he'd poured into it and her alleged expertise, that it would have been capable of detecting Kurt's admirer when she paid her visit, rendering this whole operation unnecessary.

He'd have to have a word or two with Kurt about that, he determined as he slowed slightly to catch the unconscious Bobby Drake in his arms, barely aware of the telltale explosions behind him indicating that the heat seekers had self destructed. The Fallen Angels' leader obviously had an over inflated opinion of Katherine's abilities. Perhaps Paige or an outside vendor would be a better option if they needed technical expertise. Katherine could go right back to wherever it was she'd been before Kurt decided that his home was the perfect place for lost X-Men to congregate. Or back to Westchester, where they were so bereft of talent and intelligence that they might actually value her limited skills.

Of course, not all the lost souls who had followed the Fallen Angels' leader home were completely lost causes, he would admit if only to himself. Paige had proven to be far more palatable than he'd ever expected when her focus had been on worming her way into Worthington's affections, and Jubilation, while annoying…well, no. Jubilation was purely annoying, actually. Jonothan, though…

Well, the young Brit had gained some sort of maturity along with his face. Somehow, they seemed to keep meeting out on the porch at odd times, and he'd found the young man remarkably easy to talk to. Provided, of course, he could stay downwind from the ridiculous cigarettes the boy had taken to smoking. Why, exactly, the young man thought that simply because he now had a face he needed to acquire a new bad habit to go with it was quite beyond Jean-Paul's comprehension, but overall, he had no real problem with Jono. The fact that his restored body was excellent eye candy scarcely even factored in.

A pity they couldn't turn Katherine over to the Weapon X program to see what they could implant in her. Some sort of common sense, perhaps, that would keep her from sending missiles against someone who was in no condition to combat them. The fact that they were heat-seekers was not lost on him, but surely she'd noticed that her love interest would draw their attention as well, given his reluctance to change form.

He'd had no business being there at all. And now he was being forced to carry him, unconscious, back to the house. Again. At least he weighed less in this form, and hopefully this collapse wouldn't result in yet another extended stay at the hospital. Not that he wasn't spending more time than he wished there himself, still, but it was difficult enough visiting Jeanne-Marie these days. He didn't need, or want, Bobby there too.

Dammit, Drake had to be okay. If only so he could explain to him what a pathetic self-absorbed idiot he was, and determine just how many times he could say I told you so without actually using those words. Or at least, only using them once. He had a broad vocabularly, it shouldn't be difficult.

"Did we win?" the object of his concern asked as they neared the house, and Jean-Paul looked down to see the shaky grin form on the other man's pale face. And nobly resisted the suddenly almost overwhelming urge to drop him there and then.

* * *

Kitty had long since wiped the tears from her face by the time the pairs began trickling in. Jean-Paul and Bobby had been first, of course – much to her relief, though she managed to cover that admirably, pretending to be engrossed in her diagnostics. Or so she hoped. Still…she cast a surreptitious glance toward Bobby, who was sprawled on the couch in the now restored living room. At least he seemed to be okay.

No thanks to her. Something Jean-Paul had taken obvious glee in pointing out to her, ever since he'd carried their protesting teammate into the computer room upstairs, where she'd still been frantically trying to tune in her surveillance cameras. Fortunately, Kurt and Paige had arrived next, both singed by the dining room lasers but with huge grins on their faces. At least someone had enjoyed themselves, though in Kurt's case, it was quite possible he was still smiling over his unexpected gift. Sometimes the fuzzy elf could be awfully predictable.

There was still no sign of Jubilee and Jono. Not a single surveillance camera had caught them in its sights, though perhaps that wasn't all that surprising, given the fact that over half of the cameras seemed to be malfunctioning. It was more aggravating that they hadn't triggered a single alarm. Paige had suggested (rather cattily, Kitty thought) that they'd run off to the 7/11 down the block for slurpies and cigarettes and hadn't even bothered to attempt a break-in, but Kitty wasn't so sure. Technically, the systems test was still going, even though Kurt had convinced her to shut down the interior defenses and join the others downstairs. Considering that the only alternative he'd been willing to offer was to talk about what had happened, she'd reluctantly agreed.

She wanted, more than anything, to head right back upstairs with her newly acquired bottle of Pepsi. To run diagnostics and try to track down their missing teammates. To be, quite simply, wherever Bobby wasn't.

He'd tried to talk to her several times. She was pretending not to hear him, to be engrossed in the printouts she'd brought down with her, trying to determine where the flaws were in the code that controlled the cameras. She just…couldn't. Jean-Paul may have been wrong the last time, when he'd accused her of being responsible for Bobby's hospitalization.

This time, she could have actually killed him. And this time, there was absolutely no question in her mind that it would have been completely her fault if she had.

"Perhaps we should go and check on them?" Kurt asked of no one in particular. "Just in case they've gotten themselves into some sort of situation?"

A snort from Jean-Paul. "I rather doubt they got lost. Though it's entirely possible that one of our new, expensive missiles mistook them for small woodland creatures and blew them up so as to maintain a proper ecosystem. Obviously, they're not designed to stop infiltrators." Another jab. This time at her security system, which she would've sworn had been working properly. Which _had_ been working properly. Some sort of external factor almost had to be involved.

Or at least, she thought so. Damn, now Beaubier had her questioning her technical competence, too…

"Hey, gotta watch out for those bunnies," Bobby joked from the couch, where he was munching his way through a bag of Doritos. "They'll get your gardens every time. Supervillains, not so often."

Despite her earlier vow that she was simply going to ignore anything Bobby said, Kitty found herself smiling. "Oh, I don't know," she countered. "Seems to me that they always manage to take out the gardens, too. Collateral damage and all that; I remember Ororo complaining about it." There, that was casual. She could do casual conversation, even if she wasn't quite managing to meet his eyes.

"True," Bobby admitted, and she could practically hear the wheels turning in his mind. "Not _our_ infiltrators, though. They'd sooner just bring the garden inside and leave it on the pillow of our fearless leader."

"One rose, mein freund, is not a garden," Kurt corrected, his tail flipping saucily from side to side as he visibly fought to keep his grin from broadening further. "A garden would be a bit much. Nor does one overzealous admirer constitute a plague of infiltrators from which we can establish a trend."

"Give it time," Jean-Paul replied dryly. "I have little doubt there will be sufficient numbers to establish a benchmark soon enough."

"Of admirers? Kurt always gets admirers." Bobby let out a forlorn sigh and let his head drop back onto the arm of the couch. "I need admirers." He glanced down into the bag he was holding and frowned. "And Doritos. Paige, do we have any more Doritos?" he said in a wheedling tone, turning puppy dog brown eyes on the blonde who'd been wading through the manuals for the security system. Which, Kitty had to admit, was probably not a bad idea. She had little doubt that Jean-Paul would be turning control of them over to the other girl at the earliest opportunity; Paige might as well begin familiarizing herself with them now.

"If you're well enough to go off ice sliding, you're well enough to check for your own Doritos," Paige replied in a tone that made it obvious that she wasn't falling for the puppy dog eyes, and which suggested she'd had similar conversations with numerous ailing and injured siblings. Kitty rather doubted any of them had fared any better than Bobby was. She was about to excuse herself to retrieve the Doritos in question when a voice spoke up from the direction of the kitchen.

"What happened, Bobster, fall off your ice slide?"

Five heads, including her own, turned to see Jubilee enter the room, a smug expression on her face as she took a bite from a slice of pizza. Behind her trailed Jono, who looked to Kitty's critical eye…well, whole was the adjective that came to mind, for reasons she wouldn't entirely be able to explain if asked. Taller, somehow, and relaxed despite obvious exhaustion. Like someone, she realized suddenly, who had proven a point, not to anyone else but to himself.

She knew that look, though it had been a while since she'd seen it in her own reflection. It was good, though, to see it on someone else's.

Predictably enough, Kurt was the first to recover from their surprise entrance. "So, then, you were able to find a way inside, I take it?" he asked with a hint of curiosity in his voice.

Kitty could hardly blame him for that, and waited expectantly for an explanation.

"And we should all express surprise now, no doubt," Jean-Paul said, his voice dry as he cast a disparaging look in Kitty's direction.

She ignored it. Given today's failures on more than one level, she could hardly drum up the enthusiasm to dispute it. Lockheed wasn't as charitable, and directed a hiss in the Canadian's direction before flapping over to perch on Jubilee's shoulder, his head craning forward to stare at her pizza longingly.

"Wasn't easy," Jono replied, slipping around Jubilee who'd fallen for the draconian equivalent of puppy dog eyes and was now hand-feeding Lockheed bits of pepperoni. He set his own plate of pizza down on the coffee table and sat down on the floor, stretching his legs out in front of him. "Took a hell of a long time to put together the map."

"Map?" she heard Paige ask, and turned to look at the puzzled blonde. "Why'd you need a map?" There was a hint of accusation in her voice, one that Kitty was proud to see Jono ignore completely.

"Well, of course we needed a map," Jubilee replied with a roll of her eyes, as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Dislodging the dragon from her shoulder, she plopped down on the edge of the couch in front of Bobby, who obligingly squirmed backwards. "I mean, do you have _any_ idea how many cameras Kit hid out there?"

"Forty three," Kitty mumbled under her breath, and startled as Jono said the same thing aloud. That hadn't been public knowledge, especially since she'd installed a few extras just that morning. She looked over at Jono, who met her eyes and grinned.

"Forty three," Jubilee echoed, leaning back against Bobby's legs. "I'm wiped. Do you think I'm getting old?" she appealed to Bobby, turning slightly to look at him. "Because yeah, totally burnt out."

Kitty watched as Bobby pretended to study Jubilee's face for a moment, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, you're an antique alright," he agreed. "I think you might actually have a gray hair in there somewhere. What'd you do with the cameras, pose for them all?"

"As if!" Jubilee protested. "Like he," a pointed gesture with her chin identified the _he_ in question as Jono, "let me anywhere near them. Nope, stayed out of range and paffed them all," she added smugly, blowing at her fingertips before retrieving her pizza and taking a huge bite.

Kitty stared. First at Jubilee, then at Jono. The fact that Jean-Paul, Kurt and Paige were doing the same thing failed to register as her mind spun, processing the new information. The entire time she'd been frantically trying to make unresponsive cameras work, Jubilee had been calmly disabling them, one by one. She barely registered the questions Kurt and Jean-Paul were firing at Jubilee as she tried to figure out just how…

Ya focus on what yer doing, that's how, a British voice pointed out in her mind. Wouldn't have worked if you didn't; yer mind's usually impossible to tap into.

Kitty blinked twice, then directed an accusing look toward Jono as the final pieces fell into place. "You picked my brain," she stated, feigning far more annoyance than she actually felt. Actually, that had been an awfully good plan. They newest generation of X-Babies had apparently learned something from Emma Frost, after all.

Jono let out an amused snort, then smiled and held his pizza up in silent salute. Outside, she could hear the rain pounding harder against the windows as she got to her feet.

Not poor planning, or poor assembly, or anything wrong with the technology. Or with her. Just one more thing to fact in, next time. At least something that had happened today wasn't her fault. For now, though…her eyes skimmed over Bobby and Jubilee and past Jean-Paul to meet Paige's, and she gestured for the other girl to join her.

"Where are you going?" Jean-Paul demanded, but it was Kurt who answered.

"Didn't you hear, mein freund?" he asked, and Kitty watched her best friend's tail flick back and forth with amusement. "There were forty-three cameras. All of which Jubilee has shorted out. Unless I miss my guess, or you'd prefer to have a completely non-functional security system, Katzchen has plans to get things back on line. Which means…"

"We're going to need new cameras," Paige finished for him, hopping to her feet with enthusiasm. "Ones that have a higher fire resistance?" she asked.

Kitty nodded. "I'm thinking some sort of ceramic casing," she said, relieved to be back in her element and, sooner than not, out of the house. Technical issues she could deal with. The others…well, sooner or later she'd have to, she knew. But it wouldn't be today. "If Jubilee's pafs could take them out, we definitely need something more reliable."

"Hey, I resent that!" Jubilee inserted.

"Perhaps we should take the replacement cost out of your salary, then?" Jean-Paul asked her. Kitty watched as Jubilee stuck her tongue out at the financial coordinator in reply, but Jean-Paul wasn't finished, instead directing his next observation toward her.

"We should, most definitely, throw more money at the problem."

Much to Kitty's surprise, Paige fixed Jean-Paul with a look and his mouth, poised to elaborate, abruptly closed. Apparently satisfied, Paige headed out of the room, and Kitty followed the younger girl with a bemused expression on her face. Now, if she could just get that look to work for her…

"Think we should make them install the new cameras?" Paige asked once they were in the foyer and out of earshot.

Kitty glanced back at the Angels still in the living room. At Jono's face, as he answered Kurt's questions about how he'd developed and executed his plan, and just why they'd – or he, since Jubilee was disavowing input – had decided upon it to begin with. And shook her head as she turned back to Paige.

"Nah, we'll do it," she told the younger girl as she opened the door. A flash of lightning almost directly overhead chose that moment to strike, followed almost immediately by crack of thunder, and she grimaced. "Though I think it'd be only fair to make them hold the umbrellas while we do."


End file.
